Weak Side

Bexley U, Book 1

By: S.J. Sylvis

Narrated by: Michael Gallagher, Sarah McEwan

Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

He's the hottest hockey player in the nation, and I just agreed to be his fake girlfriend.

Theo Brooks is hard not to notice. With his coy smirk, rock-hard abs, and skilled agility on the ice, he's the cockiest of all the jocks and, unfortunately for me, my new roommate.

When Admissions mixes up my first and last name, and I end up living in the male dorms, I feel my perfectly tied schedule loosening with every string Theo pulls. And he likes to pull every single one.

It isn't until I find out that my long-time boyfriend is sampling other girls that things get interesting. Theo proposes a solution to my problem—he helps me make my ex jealous, and I help him fend off the relentless puck bunnies that are doing nothing but distracting him from sealing his future with the best NHL team there is.

So, we fake date. We kill two birds with one stone. The puck bunnies think he's taken. My ex is regretting his poor choices.

But the more Theo Brooks shows up by my side and places his hand around my waist, the more I realize that the lines we drew are blurring. This may have started as a fake dating scheme, but with each misleading kiss, we may both get more than we bargained for.

Weak Side is a spicy fake dating, forced proximity college sports romance. It is a complete standalone.

©2023 S.J. Sylvis (P)2023 Podium Audio

Cute story, great performances, slow pacing

Finally diving into this series- and I solidly enjoyed this audio. Performances were enjoyable overall and it had all sorts of college shenanigans I enjoy (parties, sports fun, dorm sleepovers, etc.). And I really liked all the characters, from the mains to the secondaries. I'm really interested in a few of their stories!

While I liked the story overall, I found the pacing to be a bit slow, even while listening the audio (which is rare for me to feel on audio)- it took a bit too long for this story to go anywhere, particularly with their relationship growing into something more, growing into "fake dating" and real feelings evolving. Some of the primary conflicts were already resolving before we even got there. Then immediately they were all in- feeling strong. It was like a flip switch, and one that came a bit too slowly for me. It was def a slower burn in terms of spice too. The friendship chemistry was really cute though and banterific, just wish we got to marinate a bit more in the dating chemistry.

We had quite a few swoony moments and our hero in particular was super dreamy in the way he pivots to obsessively loving and caring for our heroine. Quite adorable. Will definitely check out the next story since it's a hero I'm curious about!

While the male narrator wasn't one of my topsl, I did like both performances and found them to be expressive and easy to follow.

Thoroughly enjoyed

I listen to a lot of contemporary romance audiobooks, and this one really pulled me out of a slump. College aged romance isn’t usually my go-to, but this one was so good. One of my favorite tropes is forced proximity, and this was FP gold. 😍 If you like a good hockey romance, don’t skip this one.

Such great characters

Loved this whole story. From the main characters meet cute with a name mix up putting her in the men’s dorm and him thinking she is another puck bunny. The story was great loved all the side characters as well and am looking forward to some of their stories as well. The narration was great as well.

perfect love story

I greatly enjoyed this book, the story is sweet with a little angst, a little spice 1 🌶️ ,slow burn .

HEA Happy Twist

It was a great HEA. Characters with heart and personality. Does as most start with a slutty guy. Nice or not he starts off as a dog (slut puppy) before becoming discerning!

weak side

I love this Book so much and can't wait to read more of this author's books 📚

SO GOOD!

Such a good book! Highly recommend reading! Quick and easy listen, felt like I was watching a TV show haha

Amazing auto performance!

Loved everything from the story line to the narrator performance- so engaging. Loved the characters! I was hooked from the beginning.

The performance

Loved listening to every part!! This book was amazing I loved the performance and the story line 10/10 will be reading again!!

All the swoon!

This story had me hooked! After I started, I knew it was an audio that I could not and would not stop. I am obsessed with S.J. Sylvis' stories and Michael Gallagher and Sarah McEwan just made it that much better. Their performance was so well done. I already want to re-listen!